Refrigerator door latch



May 16, 1950 w. F. FREIDAG ET A REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH Filed Sept. 19, 1945 Jill 672$ x 5 jirsaag id Kendedi WWQZZEF Patented May 18, 1950 UNITED STATES} PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATOR DOOR LATCH William F. Freidag and Wendell W. Walter, Freeport, Ill., assignors, by mcsne assignments, to

I Rockwell Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh,

Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania 11 Claims.

This invention relates to door latches, and is more particularly concerned with an improved door latch especially designed and adapted for use on refrigerators, but, of course, usable wherever a door latch operable in the same novel manner is suitable.

The principal object of our invention is to provide a door latch in which a hair-pin type spring latch bolt cooperates with a keeper in such a way as to provide a positive locking action, but is adapted, nevertheless, to be retracted easily by a light pull outwardly on the door handle.

The hair-pin spring latch bolt, in accordance with our invention, has its two free ends arranged to straddle the keeper, thus making it self-centering and facilitating the installation of the door latch on the refrigerator, the free ends being furthermore easily guided in a, slot in the body to assume the impact in the closing of the door and to resist opening of the door before the handle is pulled to disengage the latch bolt from the keeper.

The handle of the latch, in accordance with our invention, is pivoted in the body and has an arm integral with it which is wedge-shaped and arranged to spread the free ends of the hair-pin latch bolt apart to disengage the same from the keeper, the slot in the body serving positively to limit the spreading of said ends and accordingly to limit the pivotal movement of the handle, so that the latch is relieved of any unnecessarily excessive strain in the opening of the door in the event it sticks.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator door latch made in accordance with our invention, shown applied to a refrigerator;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional details on the correspondingly numbered lines of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing a modified or alternative construction.

Similar reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

The reference numeral 6 designates the hollow body of the door latch, which has an outwardly projecting flange l for attachment thereof to the refrigerator door, indicated at 8, screws 9 being entered through a number of holes in the flange for this purpose. The keeper Ill has a base portion H which is fastened to the body 12 of the refrigerator alongside the door opening l3 by means of screws it entered through holes in the base portion ll of the keeper. The door 8 is illustrated as having the usual outwardly projecting flange portion l5 onto which the usual sealing strip I6 is fastened to give an airtight seal when the door 8 is closed. The door 8 is, of course, hinged on the body l2 to swing outwardly in opening, in the usual way, and, in accordance with our invention, is adapted to be opened by an outward pull on the latch handle I! which is pivotally mounted in the body 6 On a cross-pin II.

The keeper 10, in accordance with our invention, has a generally triangular or wedge-shaped head l9, the base portion of which is suiliciently enlarged with respect to the neck portion 20 to provide shoulders 2| therebeneath against which the two free end portions 22 of the hair-pin shaped spring latch bolt 23 is arranged to engage to hold the door closed. The latch bolt 23 is formed from wire of round cross-section, as indicated in Fig. 4, but it may be of square or rectangular section. The latch bolt is fastened'in place in the body 6 by its U-bend portion 24, which is entered in a semi-circular recess 25 provided therefor in the body, a screw 26 being threaded in a hole 21 in the body and having its head end 28 entered in the U-bend 24 to clamp the latch bolt firmly in place. An elongated slot 29 is provided in the outer end wall 30 of the body 6 and serves as a guide for the free end portions 22 of the latch bolt, and inasmuch as these free ends are movable laterally freely in the slot it is clear that they will cooperate properly with the keeper Ill even though the head l9 of the keeper is not located accurately on the longitudinal cen- I ter line 0-1) of the latch bolt. In other words, the latch bolt 23 is self-centering relative to the keeper. The slot 29 guides the end portions 22 of the latch bolt and assumes the side thrust on these end portions when the door is closed. The slot also assumes side thrust on the end portions 22 in the opposite direction to resist opening of the door before the'latch bolt is disengaged from the keeper.

The handle I! has a wedge-shaped arm 3| integral with it which is arranged to move between the hump portions 32 bent in the free end portions 22 of the latch bolt 23 to spread the free ends apart to disengage them from the shoulders 2| on the head end IQ of the keeper in theopening of the door. The free ends 22 in this operation engage the ends of the slot 29 when the wedge-shaped arm 3| is only part way between the humps 32, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. In that way, we avoid any likelihood of the free ends 22 being spread apart too far and being subjected to unnecessarily excessive strain in the event the door tends to stick, as may occur with old or defective sealing strips l3. Inother words, the door can be pulled open by means of the handle I! with a positive pull when the free ends 22 -of the latch have reached their limit positions in the opposite ends of the slot 29,

because under those conditions further movement or .less posiiactory operation even though the keeper may not have been applied accurately enough to the refrigerator, or in the event the door tends to sag a little due to wear on the hinges. In the closing of the door, the wedge-shaped striker head [9 on the keeper ill will spread the free end portions 22 of the latch bolt 23 apart, the side thrust on these end portions being assumed in the slot 29, which also assumes the side thrust in the opposite direction to hold the door closed. In the opening of the door, the wedge-shaped arm 3| easily spreads the hump portions 32, so that the free end portions 22 are disengaged from the keeper. While it is preferred to have.

the wedge-shaped arm 3| operate in the direction shown, it should, of course, be clear that the handle I! may be mounted so as to have the wedge-shaped arm spread the humps 32 apart from the opposite side. The double catch action afforded by the engagement of the free ends 22 of the latch bolt under the two shoulders 2i eliminates any likelihood of the refrigerator door opening accidentally.

In Fig. we have shown a modified or alternative construction, in which the latch mechanism is composed of two parts 23a and 2317 that are preferably stamped parts, although castings or fo'rgings may, of coursejbe employed. These two parts are pivoted in the body Ed at one end, as indicated at 33, and are arranged to coopcrate with the head end IQ of the keeper ID at their free ends 22a, these ends being guided in a slot 29 in the end wall 30 of the body So, similarly as in the other form. A coiled tension spring 34 is connected at its opposite ends to the parts 23a and 23b and tends normally to urge the free ends 22a toward each other. These free ends may, however, be spread apart by means of the wedge-shaped arm 3| on the handle l1, similarly as in the other form. A door latch made along these lines will, of course, operate in substantially the same manner.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

We claim: a

1. A latch comprising a support for attachment to a door, a handle pivoted thereon for outward swinging movement relative to the door and having an arm projecting from its pivoted portion, said latch being adapted for cooperation with a stationary keeper having a striker head presenting shoulders therebehind, and a hair-pin shaped spring constituting a latch bolt which is fixed at its U-bent end on said support and has its spaced free end portions slidably guided on said support for limited movement toward and away from each other, said end portions being spaced to engage said shoulders to hold the door closed but being spreadable apart by-said striker head to admit the head therebetween in the closing 01' the door, said spring having opposed bent-in hump portions, and said arm having a wedgeshaped portion which is movable'bctween said humps upon outward pivotal movement of said handle to spread said end portions apart to release the keeper.

2. A latch comprising a handle base for attachment to a door, said latch being adapted for cooperation with a stationary keeper having a striker head presenting shoulders therebehind, a hair-pin shaped spring constituting a latch bolt which is fixed at its U-bent end on said handlebase and has its spaced free end portions slidably guided on said handle base for limited movement toward and away from each other, said end portions being spaced to engage said shoulders to hold the door closed but being spreadable apart by said striker head to admit the head therebetween in the closing of the door,

said spring having opposed bent-in hump portions, and an operating handle movably mounted on the handle base and having a wedge-shaped portion arranged to be moved between said humps to spread said end portions apart to release the keeper.

3. In combination in a door latch mechanism, a hollow body for attachment to a door and adapted to receive a keeper in one end portion thereof, a handle pivoted on said body having a bolt actuating arm projecting inwardly from its pivoted end portion, said body having a slot provided therein in transverse relation to said arm and spaced from the handle and arm, and a U- shaped latch bolt of resilient material fastened at its U-bent end in the other end of said body opposite from the handle and having its spaced free end portions slidably guided in said slot, said end portions being adapted to receive said keeper therebetwcen, said arm having means coacting with means on said end portions upon piv otal movement of said handle to disengage said end portions from said keeper.

4. A structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein said U-shaped latch bolt is formed to provide hump portions on the two legs of the U spaced from the free ends and projecting toward each other, said arm having means engageable with said hump portions to spread said legs apart.

5. A structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein said U-shaped latch bolt is formed to provide I hump portions on the two legs of the U spaced from the free ends and projecting toward each other, said arm being" wedge-shaped and arranged to move therebetween to spread said humps apart.

6. A structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein said U-shaped latch bolt is formed to provide hump portions on the two legs of the U spaced from the free ends and projecting toward each other, said arm being movable therebetween to spread the same apart, said slot being of a length to limit the spreading apart of said end portions to such an extent that the arm cannot pass through between said humps, whereby the pivotal movement of said handle is positively limited.

7. In combination in a door latch mechanism, a hollow body adapted to receive a keeper in one end portion thereof, a handle pivoted on said body having a bolt actuating arm projecting inwardly from its pivoted end portion, and spring pressed latch bolt members mounted in said body having spaced free end portions adapted to receive said keeper therebetween, 7

said arm :being formed and arranged to spread said end portions upon pivotal movement of said handle to free said keeper.

8. In combination in a door latch mechanism, a hollow body for attachment to a door and adapted to receive a keeper in one end portion thereof, a handle pivoted on the latter end portion having a bolt actuating arm projecting inwardly from its pivoted end portion, said body having a slot provided therein in transverse relation to said arm and spaced fromthe handle and arm, and spring pressed latch members mounted in said body and having spaced free end portions slidably guided in said slot and adapted to receive said keeper therebetween, said arm being formed and arranged to spread said end portions upon pivotal movement of said handle to free said keeper.

9. A structure as set forth in claim 8, wherein said latch bolt members have portions projecting inwardly toward each other spaced from the free ends, said arm being movable therebetween to spread the same apart.

- 10. A structure as set forth in claim 8, wherein said latch bolt members have portions projecting inwardly toward each other spaced from the free ends, said arm being wedge-shaped and arranged to move therebetween to spread said projections apart.

limited.

WILLIAM F. FREIDAG. WENDELL W. WALTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 261,356 Joyner July 18, 1882 326,331- Ripson et al Sept. 15, 1885 1,140,553 Whittier May 25, 1915 1,191,679 Dziegielewski July 18, 1916 1,348,028 Martin July 27, 1920 1,579,619 Kerby Apr. 6, 1926 2,195,223 O'Connor Mar. 26, 1940 

